††††††††††††† Tirthankara Mahavira, after the
attainment of omniscience at the age of forty-two, toured different parts of
the country for a continuous period of thirty years, met people from various
urban, rural and tribal societies, and preached the principles and rules of
conduct as laid down by jainism. The personality and preachings of Tirthankara
Mahavira created a tremendous impact on the minds of all sections of people and
especially on the down-trodden sections of the population. He not only revealed
to them the path of Liberation i.e. the path to attain the eternal happiness,
which was the main object of the people, but also showed the actual means
through which all people, irrespective of any distinction of class or status,
can achieve this objective. His sincerity of purpose, way of approach, method
of explanation, divine speech and philosophical and ethical doctrines appealed
to the people to such an extent that with a firm conviction of mind they began
to adopt Jaina religion as lay followers or as ascetics. The number of con≠firmed
adherents to Jaina religion began to increase steadily. In this way Tirthankara
Mahavira ushered in a new era of hope and aspirations for the common people and
succeeded in considerably changing the life, outlook and values of the people.
He introduced various new concepts and ideas which revolu≠tionised the entire
course of life of the people. The significance of Tirthankara Mahavira lies in
successfully effecting a social change and in making institutional and other
arrangements for the perpetuation of his new social order.† In order to solve the pressing problems of
the time, he made several important salient contributions from a social point
of view which are briefly out-≠lined here.

(1) Establishment of Social Equality:

††††††††† The
most significant contribution in the social field made by Tirthankara Mahavira
was the establishment of social equa≠lity
among the four Varnas, i.e. classes, prevalent in the society.† Mahavira succeeded in organizing his large
number of followers into a compact social order quite distinct from that of the
Brahmanic social order of the Vedic period.†††††††††

††††††††††† The Vedic society was composed of
four classes, viz. Brahmana, Rajanya, Vaishya and Shudra. They were said to
have come from the mouth, the arms, the thighs and the feet of the Creator,
Brahman.† The particular limbs ascribed
as the origins of these divisions and the order in which they were mentioned††† indicated††††††††† their
status in the society of the time. The fact that the four classes were
described as of divine origin could be taken as a sufficient indication that
they were of long duration and very well defined.†††††††† Not only the four classes were distinct and separate, but
they were also affected by the spirit of rivalry among themselves.††††††††† Even in the early Rigvedic times the
Brahmanical profession had begun to set up claims of superiority or sacredness
for itself and† accordingly we find that
different rules were prescribed for different classes. Thus the Shatapatha
Brahmana laid down different modes of address for the four classes, differing
in degrees of politeness, as ehi, agachchha, adrava and adhava. The
Taittiriya Brahmana recommended the spring season to the Brahmins for the per≠formance
of sacrifices, the Summer to the Kshatriyas, and the autumn to the Vaishyas.††††††† The Atharva Veda proclaimed in the
strongest language sin, peril and ruinous consequences for insul≠ting Brahmins
and robbing them of their property. This inordinate extension of the pretensions
and prerogatives of the sacerdotal class naturally created cleavages in the
Society. The Kshatriya were assigned a position next to Brahmins, and Vaishyas
and Shudras were comparatively neglected.†
Thus the Vedic Societry was completely class-ridden in the sense that
unusual importance was given to the Brahmin class to the detriment of other
classes and that no body was allowed
to change his class which he had got
on the basis of his birth† in that†
class.†

††††††††† Against
these glaring practices based on the acceptance of social inequality and on the
wide observance of social discrimination, Tirthankara Mahavira launched his
attack. He recognized the division of society into four classes
but based them on the nature of activities carried out by the people and not on
the basis of their birth. He gave full
freedom to one and all, including
women and Shudras, to observe common religious practices prescribed for all and
admitted them into his religious order. In this way Tirthankara Mahavira threw
open the doors of Jainism to all and gave equal opportunity to every≠body
irrespectives of his class or birth, to practice religion according to his
capacity.†† Those who††††††††† followed religion as householders were known as Shravakas and Shravikas and those who observed the religion fully by leaving their houses
and becoming ascetics were called as Sadhus and
Sadhvis.

††††††††† After Mahavira, various Jaina Acharyas
made no dis≠tinction whatsoever among people in the matter of following
religion and conceived that the Varna system, that is, the division of society
into four Varnas or classes, is based upon differences in professions. In their
view birth played no part in determining the Varna or class of a particular
person. As regards the division of Society into four Varnas, Acharya Jinasena
states (in Adi Purana†††††† Parva 38, 45,
48) in the following manner :

†††††††††† The
whole mankind came into existence due to the rise of Jati-nama-Karma ;
and the mankind was divided into
four categories of Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra according to the
differences in the vocations they followed for their livelihood. Those who
observed Vratas,
i.e. religious injunctions, to a
greater degree were known as Brahmanas, those who carried weapons as
Kshatriyas, those who acquired wealth by just means as Vaishyas and those† who maintained by resorting to low
professions as Shudras.

††††††††† In the same way Acharya Ravishena
asserts (in his Padma Purana, Parva XI, 200, 203 and 205) that
it is not birth but activities that determine oneís class in the Society.

††††††††††† The Brahmanahood of best ascetics
as well as of ordinary people is considered on their actions and not on their
birth in the Brahmana class. No class has been despised. The actions alone lead
to good prosperity. Gods regard a Chandala, i. e. an outcaste, as a Brahmana, if he follows
religious mode of life. The epithets of classes and Chandala, which are applied to mankind are famous in this
world due to differences in their ways of life.

††††††††† Acharya Amitagati also attaches (in his
Dharma-Pariksha, Parichchheda XVII, 24-25, 31-33) no importance whatsoever to
birth and considers oneís mode of life as the determinant of oneís class.

The idea of differentiations of classes comes in only because of
differences in the ways of life. No single class has been settled as that of
the true or real Brahmana class. Really there is only one class of four
divisions, viz. Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, and that is the
class of human beings. They have been divided because of differences in the
ways of life.† People of good conduct had
attained heaven eventhough they were born in low
families and on the contrary men devoid of good conduct and restraint had gone
to hell in spite of the fact that they had taken birth in high families.† A class is formed by following a particular
mode of life and it perishes when that mode is left and that is why wise people
should respect ways of life only.† The
good people should not have pride in any class as it leads to degradation but
they should observe good conduct which might give them high position.

††††††††† It is clear that the society as envisaged by Tirthankara Mahavira and
other Jaina Acharyas was a society where classes were not hereditary and like
water-tight compartments and where complete freedom was granted to the people
to change to the class of their own aptitude. The society was not divided into
distinct separate sections and no differentiation was made in the status of the
classes.† All were considered as different
ways of life and utmost importance was attached to individual character and mode of behaviour. There was no room for
anybody to feel that he was neglected or degraded as he was free enough to
follow any profession he liked and he could observe all religious rites and practices along with others.

††††††††† Thus
Mahavira's conception of Varna system produced social impact of great
significance. The principle of social equality among the classes was firmly
established and the social mobility among the classes was considerably
increased as the criterion of birth for the membership of a class was
straightway removed. This had a very wholesome effect on the conditions of the
shudras which were very deplorable in the sense that the Shudras were deprived
of education, denied all rights, subjected to inhuman treatment and assigned
the lowest position in society.†
Formerly, the Shudras were completely disregarded in religious matters
and several binding restrictions were placed on their movements and ways of living. Tirthankara Mahaviraís
teachings proved a -great solace to the Shudras as the practices of
social discriminations against them were fully banned.† This resulted in the rise of social status of
the down-trodden people. Obviously there was a distinct change in the social
attitude towards the non-Aryans and the common masses.† Slowly there was a strong opposition to the
continuation of the practice of slavery in any form. The feelings of contempt
and reproach towards them also began to disappear. Naturally the general masses
were tremendously benefited as the practices of social discriminations were
completely banished and they were given opportunities to improve their lot.

††††††††† At
the same time Mahaviraís teachings affected to a very great extent the
privileged position enjoyed by the Brahmanas belonging to the priestly
professions. From the Vedic period such Brahmana priests enjoyed high social
status, political facilities, economic concessions, educational opportunities,
cultural dominance and religious privileges to the exclusion of other classes.††††† In view of this monopolistic condition the
Brahmana priests held the position of prominence in society and freely made use
of that position for the exploitation of the masses in different fields and
especially in religious matters which were of highest-importance to the people.††††††††† Obviously, the Brahmana priests were
extremely keen on the perpetuation of their domination on the common masses and
hence they did not hesitate to employ any means to keep the masses in their despised conditions and to make the
masses entirely dependent on their favours.†††† Naturally,
the common masses were leading a very low life in an atmosphere of severe
discontent and utter frustration.†
Tirthankara Mahavira launched an open and forceful attack on the
Brahmana priestly class and on their ingenious practices used for the excessive
exploitation of the common masses. At the same time Tirthankara Mahavira made
his religion easily accessible to the common masses, gave equal opportunities
in the practice of religion to one and all irrespective of their class
affiliations, and held out a sure promise for all persons to achieve
Liberation, the highest goal in their life,
by observing the rules of conduct laid down by the religion and not by merely
getting the different kinds of sacrifices performed by the priests. This
practical and ethical approach to religion vigorously and effectively
enunciated by Tirthankara Mahavira made people independent of the priestly
domination, created a feeling of self-reliance and appealed to the common
masses. Thus Tirthankara Mahaviraís opposition was to the priestly class of
Brahmanas and to the several tactics employed by them for the exploitation of
the common masses by managing to keep the masses virtually ignorant and
entirely dependent on the favours of the priests. This strong opposition
considerably reduced the influence and domination wielded by the priestly class
over the other people. But it is obvious that the opposition or Tirthankara Mahavira was confined to the priestly
class of the Brahmanas and not to the Brahmana Varna as such.In fact, Tirthankara Mahavira always
appreciated the intellectual capacities of the Brahmanas, initiated many
learned Brahmanas to the Jaina religion, admit≠ted several scholars among the
Brahmanas to his escetic order and even appointed Indrabhuti Gautama, the most
learned Brahmana teacher, as his first Ganadhara, i.e. the apostle or the Chief
Disciple. It has already been mentioned that Tirthankara Mahavira delivered his
first Sermon after 66 days of attainment of Omniscience, only when he got the
services of the most talented Brahmana teacher, viz. Indrabhuti Gautama, for
the proper interpretation of his preachings to the people. In this way
Tirthankara Mahavira always showed regard to the learning and education of the
Brahmanas but invariably led a strong and consistent attack against the
priestly class of the Brahmanas.

(2)†††† Emancipation of Women:

††††††††††† Another contribution of a
distinctive nature made by Tirthankara Mahavira in the social field was in the
direction of raising the status of women.†
In the latter part of the Vedic period women had practically been
reduced to the status of Shudras. Like the Shudras, women were debarred from
the right of initiation and investment with the sacred thread. They were
considered to have no business with the sacred religious texts. In many passages we find that women and
Shudra were bracketed together. The very sight of woman was considered as
inauspicious and people were asked to avoid seeing women, Shudras, dead bodies,
etc. Thus women had practically no place in the religious life of the society
and as such she was neglected and degraded by the people.

††††††††† This
low position of women was definitely changed by Tirthankara Mahavira in many
ways. He removed various restrictions imposed on women especially in the
practice of religion. In fact Tirthankara Mahavira did not make any distinction
between the males and females in the observance of religion.†††††††† The rules of conduct prescribed for the
males and females were exactly the same. Both the sexes were given equal
opportunities in different matters of religion like the study of sacred texts,
observance††††††† of necessary duties,
practice of vratas, i.e. vows, entrance into the ascetic
order, practice of penance, making spiritual progress, etc. In the religious
order of Tirthankara Mahavira the male householders were called Shravakas and the female householders were termed Shravikas and both were quite free to observe their common religious
duties and to prepare themselves for adopting ascetic life in due course.
Similarly, complete freedom was given to women, like men, to enter the ascetic
orders. The female sex was no bar to the practice of asceticism. Tirthankara
Mahavira always showed this attitude of equality towards women and admitted
them freely into his ascetic order, no matter whether the candidates for
admission were royal consorts, members of the aristocracy, and those belonging
to the common run of society. Naturally many ladies availed themselves of this
opportunity of achieving their salvation in due course by entering into the
ascetic order. That is why in Tirthankara Mahaviraís religious organization
there were two orders of ascetics, like those of householders, namely, Sadhus, i.e. male ascetics and Sadhvis, i.e. female ascetics.††††† It
is stated that in Tirthankara Mahaviraís fourfold religious order there were
about 14000 Sadhus, 36000 Sadhvis,
1,00,000 Shravakas and
3,00,000 Shravikas. This show that the female members
outnumbered the male members in both the categories of householders and
ascetics. It is a clear indication that the females were very eager to take
full advantage of the opportunity offered to them by Tirthankara Mahavira. In
fact, many females from royal families and close relatives of Tirthankara
Mahavira joined his ascetic order along with the other ordinary members. For
example, Chandana and Jyeshtha, the two younger sisters of Queen Trishaladevi,
the mother of Mahavira, and Yashasvati, the wife of their maternal uncle,
entered the ascetic order of Tirthankara Mahavira; and eventually Chandana
assumed the position of the head of the Sadhvis,
i.e. the female
ascetics. In this way Tirthankara Mahavira effected emancipation of women by
giving them similar opportunities like men to achieve their highest objective
in life, viz. Liberation.† Females made
best of these opportunities and many of them distinguished themselves as
teachers and preachers.

††††††††† Further
the religious independence given to women had its repercussions in other fields
also. Equality of opportunity was accorded to women in several social spheres
of action.† In education they were given
equal treatment with the males. The utmost importance of imparting education to
females, along with males, was realised even in the ancient past by
Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara, who bad advised his two young daughters,
Brahmi and Sundari, that ďonly when
you would adorn yourself with education your life would be fruitful because
just as a learned man is held in high esteem by educated persons, a learned
lady also occupies the highest position in the female world.Ē According to
Jaina tradition a woman is expected to know 64 arts like dancing, painting,
music, aesthe≠tics, medicine, domestic science etc. As a result of this high
type of education received by women, we find, in Jaina tradition, that many
women used to enter the teaching profession and to remain unmarried throughout
the life in order to carry on their spiritual experiments unhampered.† It is recorded in Jaina tradition that
Jayanti, a daughter of King Sahasranika of Kaushambi remained unmarried out of
her love for religion and philosophy. When Mahavira first visited Kaushambi,
she discussed With him several abstruse meta-physical questions and eventually
became a nun.††† Similarly, in later
periods of history† also Jaina women not only kept up the
pace of female education but at times made original contributions to
literature. For example, along with men Jaina women also added to Kannada
literature.† The greatest name among them
was Kanti, who, along with the great poet Abhinava Pampa, was one of the gems
that adorned the court of††† Hoyasala† King Ballal I (A.D. 1100-1106) in
Karnatak.† She was a redoubtable orator
and poet who completed the unfinished poems of Abhinava Pampa in the open Court
of that ruler. Similarly, a Jaina lady Avvaiyara, Ďthe Venerable Matroní, was
one of the most admired amongst the poets in Tamil language.

(3)†††† Inculcation
of Self-reliance:

††††††††† Tirthankara
Mahaviraís contribution of a revolutionary nature consisted in completely
changing the attitude of the people towards God and thereby inculcating the
spirit of self-reliance among the minds of the people. The common belief held
by the people according to the Vedic ideology was that as this world has been
created by the God and that the work of controlling the events in this world is
also carried out by the God.† This popular
belief engendered a feeling of divine dispensation in the minds of the people
because it was firmly held by the people that God can do and undo anything in
this world in accordance with his wishes. Naturally this feeling created a
sense of complete dependence on the God by the people in the conduct of their
daily activities and in securing happiness in this world as well as in the next
world. Obviously this sense of dependence on the God urged people to find out
ways and means so as to obtain in abundant measure the favours of God in
mundane and spiritual matters and also to avoid the displeasure or wrath of God
which, it was thought, would not only bring several difficulties in the normal
course of life but also would lead to complete disaster.† As a result of this attitude, people began to
place entirely blind faith on the omnipotent God and to secure his favours by
practising certain rites and rituals laid down for the purposes. These
prescribed rituals were so elaborate
that they did require the services of priests who were supposed to have the
special knowledge about these rites and who were also specifically authorised
to perform these rituals in a proper manner. In this way the entire code of
conduct of the people was fully dominated by the practice of various rituals
through≠out the course of life and by the priests whose help and assis≠tance
were considered most essential to work as intermediary between people and God
for securing desired favours from God.†††††

†††††††† Tirthankara Mahavira
launched an intensive attack on this attitude of complete submission to God by
the people for attaining their final objective in life, viz. liberation. In
this regard Tirthankara Mahavira firmly asserted that this world is eternal and
has not been created by any power like God and that the happenings in this
world are not controlled by God. He clearly proclaimed that nothing here or
elsewhere depends on the favours of God but everything depends on the actions
of the people. He confidently stated that all persons, irrespective of their
class, family or position, have got a right to achieve salvation, their
ultimate objective in life, by relying on them≠selves and through the
observance of an ethical code of conduct and not by merely performing some
rituals with the help of others.† For
this purpose he laid down a path to liberation which consisted Right Faith,
Right Knowledge and Right Con≠duct and appealed to the people to follow this
path on their individual initiative and efforts and not on the help of any
intermediary. Further, he impressed on the people the Theory of Karma which is
based on the principle of self-reliance. This doctrine explains the reasons
lying behind or causes leading to effects. It maintains that every happening in
this world is the result of some antecedent causes.† Since the individual soul is the doer of
actions, it must bear the consequences of these actions sooner or later. There
is no way out of it. The res≠ponsibility of consequences cannot be shifted nor
exemption from the consequences be given by anybody. The soul has to enjoy the
fruits of the Karmas in this life or in subsequent lives.†††† There is no salvation until the soul stops
the influx of Karmas and gets rid of existing Karmas and this it will have to
do by its own deliberate efforts without expecting any help from an outside
agency like God.†††††††† There is no use
in asking the favour of God or his representative because Gods have not the
power of determining the consequences of the Karmas and have no authority to
forgive people from future consequences of past actions.

††††††††† This theory of Karma has been an
original and integral part of the Jaina ideology and Tirthankara Mahavira
convinced the people of the necessity of adopting this doctrine and of moulding
their entire life on the foundation of this theory. Naturally Tirthankara
Mahavira laid full stress on individual action and completely denied the
existence of divine dispensation. He emphasised that man is the architect of
his destiny and that there is no external power which can come in the way of
getting the fruits of oneís actions, whether good or bad. He assured the people
that the attainment of liberation, the ultimate objec≠tive in life, is within
their reach and it depends entirely on oneís own efforts in the march on the
path to liberation. In this way
Tirthankara Mahavira wanted every individual to become a true hero on the
battle-field of self-conquest. Thus Tirthan≠kara Mahavira inculcated a spirit
of reliance among the people in place of the feelings of utter dependence on
the God.† This basic change in attitude
brought an over-all change in the course of life of the people who began to lay
stress more on the ethical aspects than on the ritualistic aspects of their
conduct.

(4) Emphasis on Non-violence:

††††††††† Tirthankara
Mahaviraís most distinctive contribution consists in his great emphasis on the
observance of Ahimsa, i.e. non≠-injury to living beings, by all persons to the
maximum extent possible.† Ahimsa in its full significance was
realised and preached by twenty-three Tirthankaras preceding Tirthankara
Mahavira. In fact, the philosophy and rules of conduct laid down in Jaina
religion have been based on the solid foundation of Ahimsa, which hats throughout and consistently, been followed to
its logical conclusion. That is why Jainism has become synonymous with Ahimsa and Jaina religion is considered
as the religion of Ahimsa. The
significance of this basic principle of
Ahimsa was very powerfully reiterated by Tirthankara Mahavira as the
practices of committing violence in the different pretexts had become rampant
at that time.

††††††††† During the Vedic period utmost
importance was attached to the performance of sacrifices with a view to secure
the favours of God and to avert His anger. The sacrifices were very elaborate,
complicated and hedged with various restrictions. The sacrifices became a
regular feature of the religious life of the people. The peculiar
characteristic of these sacrifices was that they were usually accompanied by
the slaugh≠ter of animals.† As the
sacrifices were mainly animal sacrifices they involved the practice of Himsa to
a considerable extent. Along with this practice, the flesh-eating or
non-vegetarian diet was extremely popular among the different sections of the
people. The Rigvedic people, including the Brahmins, were fond of meat-eating
and practically all the important ceremo≠nies were attended with the slaughter
of animals. Offerings of flesh were frequently made to the Gods, and worshippers,
in≠cluding the priests, ate the offerings. The meat of cows and bulls does not
seem to have been excluded. It was a custom to entertain a distinguished guest
with the meat of a bull or a barren cow. At the wedding ceremonies oxen were
slain, evidently for the feeding of the invited guests. In fact, the sacrifice
of cow and bulls was not only optional as in the case of the arrival of a guest
and marriage but compulsory on cer≠tain occasions and ceremonies. At Shradhhas,
or periodical oblations to the manes, the sacrifice of cows was
recommended, as substances like rice, barley, sesamum, fruits, etc. keep the
manes satisfied for a month, the flesh of goats for six months, while beef
satisfied them for a year. Meat was almost com≠pulsory at Annaprashana, i.e. the
first feeding with solid food, ceremony of a child and from then till death and
cremation, sacrificing of animals was necessary on most of the ceremonial
occasions of life.

††††††††† Tirthankara Mahavira launched a
vigorous attack against meat-eating and the performance of sacrificial rites by
pro≠pagating the principle of Ahimsa, i.e. non-injury to living
beings. In fact in all his preachings Tirthankara Mahavira invariably laid
great stress on the observance of Ahimsa because the principle of Ahimsa is
the logical outcome of the basic Jaina metaphysical theory that all the souls
are potentially equal. He therefore asserted that as no one likes pain, one
should not do unto others what one does not want others to do unto one. Since
all living beings possessed soul, the principle of non-injury was obviously
extended to cover all living beings. He explained the doctrine of Ahimsa systemati≠cally
and to the minutest detail. He considered injury or violence of three kinds :
(i) physical violence, which covered killing, wounding and causing any physical
pain, (ii) violence in words consisted in using harsh words, and (iii) mental
vio≠lence, which implied bearing ill-feeling towards others. Further, he made
it clear that violence or injury should be avoided in three ways, that is, it
should not be committed, commissioned or consented to. Moreover, among the five
main Vratas,
i.e. vows, the first place was given to the observance of Ahimsa. In
addition, Ahimsa was regarded as the principal vow, and the other four
vows were considered to be merely details of the principal vow.†††††††††††

††††††††† All
these preachings of Tirthankara Mahavira regarding the strict observance of the
principle of Ahimsa to the maximum extent possible by every individual in
society produced far≠-reaching effects in social field. The practice of
performing sacrificial rites and especially the slaughter of animals at the
time of sacrifices considerably fell into disuse. Similarly, kill≠ing of
animals for hunting, sports and decoration purposes was greatly reduced.
Further, the slaughter of animals and birds with a view to use their flesh as a
form of diet slowly became unpopular. In this way injury to living beings was
greatly reduced and the practice of vegetarian diet was adopted by large
sections of population in different regions of the country. In this connection
Dr. N. K. Dutt (in his book ĎOrigin and Growth of Caste in Indiaí) observes
that ďAnimal sacrifice had been of so long standing among the Aryans and such
was the respect for the authority of the Vedas which made it obligatory to
sacrifice with flesh offerings, that the abolition of sacrifices, even of cows,
became a very slow process, effecting only a very small minority, the
intellectual section of the people, and mightnot have succeeded at all if Jainism and Buddhism had not over-Whelmed
the country and the mass of the people with the teachings of Ahimsa and
inefficacy of sacrificial rites.Ē

††††††††† Thus Tirthankara Mahavira emphasised
the basic fact that every living being has a sanctity and a dignity of its own
and therefore one must respect it as one expects oneís own dignity to be
respected by others. He also firmly emphasised that life is sacred irrespective
of species, caste, colour, creed or nationality.† On this basis he advocated the principle of ĎLive and let liveí. In
this way Tirthankara Mahavira convinced the people that the practice of Ahimsa is both
an individual and a collectvie virtue and showed that Ahimsa has a positive
force and a universal appeal.

††††††††† As the
principle of Ahimsa permeates the life of the Jainas, the Jaina culture is
referred to as Ahimsa culture. If the Jainas are known for anything it is for
the evolution of† Ahimsa culture since they
practised and propagated that culture from ancient times. The antiquity and
continuity of Ahimsa culture is mainly due to the incessant efforts of the
Jaina Acharyas,
i.e. saints. Naturally††
wherever the Jainas were in great numbers and wielded some influence
they tried to spread Ahimsa culture among the masses. That is
why we find that the States of Gujarat and Karnataka, which were the strong≠holds
of Jainas from the beginning, are largely vegetarian. In fact it is admitted
that as a result of the activities of the Jainas for the last so many centuries
Ahimsa still
forms the substratum of Indian character as a whole.

†††
(5)Insistence on Tolerance:†††† ,

††††††††† Advocacy
of the principle of religious tolerance has been the characteristic
contribution of Tirthankara Mahavira.†
When he promulgated Jaina religion, he never deprecated other religions
and never tried to prove that other religions are false. In fact he propounded
the doctrines of Anekantavada, i.e. many-sidedness, and showed that a thing can
be considered from many points of view. That is why he always advised the
people to find out the truth in anything after taking into account several
sides or aspects of that thing. This obviously broadens the outlook of the
persons as they are made to look at a thing from different angles.† At the same time the principle of Anekantavada
does not engender the feelings of enmity or hatred towards the other
religionists because it believes that other religions also would be having some
truths from their points of view. Hence by enunciating the principle of Anekantavada,
Tirthankara Mahavira advocated the principle of tolerance and
asserted that it could be applied to in≠tellectual, social, religious and other
fields of activities. As a result we find that Anekantavada has
definitely a bearing on manís psychological and spiritual life and that it is
not con≠fined to solve a mere ontological problem. It has supplied the
philosopher with catholicity of thought, convincing him that Truth is not
anybodyís monopoly with tariff walls of denomi≠national religion. It also
furnishes the religious aspirant with the virtue of intellectual toleration
which is a part of Ahimsa.

††††††††† Human beings have
limited knowledge and inadequate expression. That is why different doctrines
are inadequate ; at the most they are one-sided views of the Truth which can≠not
be duly enclosed in words and concepts. Jainism has always held that it is
wrong, if not dangerous, to presume that oneís own creed alone represents the
truth. Toleration is, therefore, the characteristic of Jaina ideology as
propounded by Tirthankara Mahavira. Even the†
Jaina monarchs and generals have a clean and commendable record to their
credit in this regard. The political history of India knows no cases of
persecution by Jaina Kings, even when Jaina monks and laymen have suffered at
the hands of others religionists of fanatical temper.††††† Dr. B. A. Salefore has rightly observed in this regard that
ďThe principle of Ahimsa was partly respon-≠ sible for the greatest contribution
of the Jainas to Hindu cultureóthat relating to toleration.Whatever may he said concerning the rigidity
with which they maintained their religious tenets and the tenacity and skill
with which they met and defeated their opponent in religious disputations, yet
it cannot be denied that the Jainas fostered the principle of toleration more
sincerely and the same time more successfully than any other community in
IndiaĒ.

(6)†† Encouragement to Social Welfare:

†††††††††††† Along with the maximum
emphasis on the actual obser≠vance of Ahimsa, Tirthankara Mahavira greatly
extended the implications of Ahimsa. He invariably stressed both the
negative and the positive aspects of Ahimsa. He strongly advocated that the
concept of Ahimsa should not be confined only to the negative side of it,
that is, the avoidance of injury to the living beings of different categories,
but should be con≠sistently applied in the positive way, that is, in the
direction of increasing the welfare of all living beings. He always appealed to the people to bear good intentions about
the prosperity of others, to show active interest in the welfare of the needy
persons, and to take practical steps to ameliorate the miserable conditions of
afflicted living beings including insects, birds, animals and men. This
positive encouragements to social welfare activities has been the most useful
and noteworthy contribution of Tirthankara Mahavira to Indian Culture.

††††††††† This humanitarian approach to lessen
the miseries of living beings was included in the Vrata, i.e. vow of Aparigraha,
i.e. abstention from greed of worldly possessions. The vow of Aparigraha
is the fifth of the five main vows which must be consistently
followed by all persons. Aparigraha involves avoiding the fault
of Parigraha
which consists in desiring more than what is needed by an
individual. Accumulating even necessary articles in large numbers, expressing
wonder at the prosperity of others, excessive greed and changing the propor≠tions
of existing possessions are all forms of Parigraha i.e. worldly attachments. This
vow aims at putting a limit on the worldly possessions by individuals according
to their needs and desires. That is why this vow
of Aparigraha is many times
termed as Parigraha-Parimana-Vrata, i.e. the vow to limit oneís worldly
possessions.

††††††††††† This vow of
Parigraha-Parimana
is very noteworthy as it indirectly aims at economic equalization by
peacefully preventing undue accumulation of capital in individual hands. It recom≠mends that a householder should fix,
beforehand, the limit of his maximum belongings, and should, in no case, exceed
it. If he ever happens to earn more than that he must spend it away in Dana,i.e. charities. The best forms of charities
prescribed by religion are ďAhara-abhaya-bhaishajya-Shastra-dana,í i.e.
givingfood to the hungry and the
poor, saving the lives of people in danger, distribution of medicines and
spreading knowledge. These charities are called the ĎChaturvidha-Danaí i.e. the fourfold gifts, by Jaina religion
and it has been enjoined on the householders that they should make special
efforts to give these charities to the needy-irrespective of caste or creed.

††††††††† From the† beginning the Jaina householders made it one
of their cardinal† principles to give
these four gifts to all persons who are in need of such help. In fact this help
was extended to the protection and well-being of insects, birds and animals
also. For this the Jainas established alm-houses, rest-houses, dispensaries and
educational institutions wherever they were concentrated in good numbers. The Anna-chhatralayas,
i.e. alm-houses, were conducted at pilgrim and other centres for the
benefit of poor-people. In the Dharma-Shalas, i.e. rest≠houses, lodging
arrangements were provided without any charges or at nominal charges at
important towns, cities and pilgrim places. The Aushadhalayas, i.e. dispensaries,
provided free medicines to the afflicted persons. Along with the dispen≠saries
for men, the Jainas conducted special institutions known as Pinjarapols
for the protection and care of helpless and decrepit animals and
birds. In unusual times of flood and famine these Pinjarapols carry out
various activities for animal protec-†††
tion.† There is hardly any town or
village of Gujarat or Rajas≠than, where Pinjarapol is not present in some form
or other. In the spread of education the Jainas took a leading part in the
education of the masses. Various relics show that formerly Jaina ascetics took
a great share in teaching children in the southern countries, viz. Andhra,
Tamilnadu, Karnatak and Maharashtra. In this connection Dr. A. S. Altekar
rightly observes (in his book ĎRashtrakutas and their Timesí) that before the
beginning of the alphabet proper the children should be required to pay homage
to the deity Ganesha, by reciting the formula ďShri Ganeshaya NamahĒ, is
natural in Hindu society, but that in the Deccan even to-day it should be
followed by the Jaina formula ďOm Namah SiddhamĒ shows that the Jain teachers of medieval age had so completely
con≠trolled the mass education that the Hindus continued to teach their
children this originally Jaina formula even after the decline of Jainism. Even
now the Jaina have rigorously maintained the tradition by giving freely these Chaturvidha-≠Dana,
i.e. four types of gifts, in all
parts of India. In this manner legacy of Mahavira has been continued to the
present day.

††††††††† Thus there is an immense value attached
to this vow of aparigraha or Parigraha-Parimana
from social point of view. At the
same time this vow has got a great significance in pre≠paring a proper mental
attitude towards material possessions, in forming a true scale of values, and
in developing a right sense of proportion for individual possessions. This vow
em≠phasises that one should not feel too much attachment towards his own
possessions and should resist all temptations. It teaches that one may keep
wealth and commodities to satisfy oneís requirements but one should not lose
oneself in the pursuit of material gain. In this manner it appeals that one
should-ove greed, vanity, lust, etc. Thus the vow of aparigrah inculcates a particular mental attitude of self-res≠traint
in the face of pleasures, of stoicism before temptations and of detachment from
superfluities and superabundances. This attitude of mind is perhaps more
necessary to-day than ever before.